Day 7: Wednesday 5th September 2012 - Gold Beach to Newport

Gold Beach to Newport is only just over 4 hours along Route 101 so we set out with nothing on the agenda but planning to stop should anything interesting come up. I should point out at this stage that we had deviated from the original plan for the next couple of days. The plan had originally been to go to Newport to see the aquarium and continue to Portland, staying somewhere just outside the city. This involved a grueling 7.5h drive not including stops. Based on our experience so far that 5-6hours was about all that was reasonable without feeling too tired (this is a 10day trip after all), we decided to split it up and stop in Newport, see the aquarium then proceed to Portland the following day. We dropped Lake Quninalt and some of the Washington coast from our itinerary to compensate.

Gold Beach was still shrouded in fog when we left so not much to see. Along Route 101 we saw advertising hoardings for the West Coast safari park in about 10 miles. This looked pretty tacky and we had now become used to the frequent tourist traps all along this road. Checking it out in our free Oregon Coast mile by mile guide, we discovered it was a petting zoo with some large animals, particularly big cats. We figured it was worth a drive by to see how much it was. When CK was told we were just in time to pet a bear that sold it! The zoo, if you could call it that was mostly juvenile animals with goats, dear and llamas wondering freely. A number could be brought out for petting, carefully controlled by the staff. It was an odd experience, great to get so close to the animals but we didn't feel it was necessarily a good animal centered environment as the good zoos work so hard to achieve. Anyway, check out some of the photos. http://gameparksafari.com/

Our server from the previous night had recommended stopping at Bandon. Apparently it has a number of famous golf courses and some excellent beaches. http://www.bandon.com/webfront/visitors/more-info/?page_id=57 We did stop just after Bandon to head down to an interesting stretch of coast with a lighthouse.

We grabbed a sandwich from the local subway and attempted to eat it on the beach - I say attempted since it was very windy and you had to stand with your back to the wind to keep the sandwich in one piece. The beach itself was fascinating. It was filled with driftwood and people had made a number of structures from it. The sand was warm despite the cold and wind. I had great fun running across it with bear feet  to get some of these photos. I didn't attempt the sea though. A bit cold for me.

This stretch of the Oregon coast line is well known for it's sand dunes and there are numerous state parks where you can go exploring. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Dunes_National_Recreation_Area

There are many adventure companies which will over quad biking or dune buggy tours of the dunes. You can see them from the highway. Our map suggested waiting until after Dune City where there is an overlook. Don't bother with this. Just as the dunes start there is a long turn off on the left hand side that goes over the water. I think that would have been better. It's just after North Bend. There are not many turnings after this. We went to the turning just before Florence which goes all the way out round an inlet facing Florence over the water. It was incredibly cold and windy and not worth the visit. It wasn't the best view of the dunes.

This viewpoint a little further on though, definitely was worth stopping for. There are 2 turnouts on the left hand side of the road for some awesome views back over the lakes and dunes.

 A little further on we found this viewpoint looking out towards the north.

We made it to Newport around 7pm, in time for the sunset but sadly the fog had descended thickly again. Probably not worth paying for a sea view room. 

Day 6: Tuesday 4th September 2012 Fort Bragg to Gold Beach

Things you don't say often, "We just drove through a tree!"

After a bit of a restless night sleep, possibly due to the hearty dinner last night and partly due to the bins being  collected at silly o'clock in the morning , it was a slow start to the day.

On Don's advice, we back tracked slightly to go and check out the light house (station) at Cabrillo point, http://www.pointcabrillo.org/.  The most impressive part of this visit was seeing the effects of coastal errosion     on the shore line, especially when wandering around the headlands we realized that the ground we were just standing on was actually hollow underneath and was nothing more than some unsupported earth.

Keen to make progress we again headed north up Route 1, destination set as a town called Eureka... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_(U.S._TV_series) for those not aware of the scifi significance.  Following on from yesterdays twisty route 20, we were glad of a bit of freeway, multi-lane driving along Route 101 to take us into town.  This did take us away from the coast, but as all we could see was sea fog, it was no great loss.

Just before we joined Route 101, we saw some intriguing advertising hoardings for a drive through.  Over here there are lots of drive thrus; Macdonalds, Starbucks, banks and now it seems, even trees!  The small hamlet of Leggett offers this unique experience, http://www.drivethrutree.com/, and made for the quote of the day, "We just drove through a tree!"

In land by just a few miles was much hotter, with clear blue skies and blazing sunshine again.  Now, where did we pack that sun cream?

We did drive right through Eureka and snapped a few comedy pics, including a tentacle.  Next stop Orick and the Redwood National Park.  The morning might have been foggy, lunch time might have been a bit of a gimmick, late afternoon, arriving at Lady Bird Johnston Grove in the presence of these giants Redwoods was majestic.

The self guided loop trail which took about a hour was calming and wondrous.  Seeing trees that are centuries old, have survived fires, that are hollow yet still growing and massive in a way that words cannot explain was breathtaking and very calming.  The perfect antidote to all that driving at freeway speeds. Although the distance of the hike would not normally take us an hour, it is almost impossible to walk with any urgency as round every corner is another breathtaking sight.  Cries of "look at that one", "look at this" and "get back inside and I'll take a photo" were typical.

As the evening drew near, Tom Tom was set to the hotel in Gold Beach and we were on the road again.  For about 5 mins until we spotted the Elk in Elk Meadow.  It took us a while to get a good view point, but once we did the heard of about 15 wild Elk gathered near a river could not be missed.

Eventually on the road again, passing Crescent City we eagerly awaited the Oregon State line, it is hard to believe that after all this time, we were still in California!

Crossing the border felt like an achievement and as if to reward us, we caught a glimpse of the setting sun to our left.  We were frustrated again by the sea fog, when the road took us high and in land, the sky was clear but we could not see the horizon, or the sun set.  When the road was near the coast, we were shrouded in fog, cold and had no sight of the horizon.  This game of cat an mouse continued for a good 15 mins, until, at last, we found an opportunity to pull of the road and we literally sprinted down the side off a cliff to try and get a good view point.

Sadly it was in vain, the area was too densely wooded, too steep and by the time we could see through the trees, we were below the fog line.

Once we were finally at the hotel, we were informed that they had a wonderful fog-less view of the sunset, had we been there 30 mins earlier, we could have watched it form the comfort of our own room.  That is how these trips go though, every decision, no matter how seemingly small, can have a dramatic impact.  Personally, I'm glad we drove through the tree, spent as long as we did with the majestic redwoods and spent time photographing the wild Elk, the sun will be there tomorrow.

It's the interesting places we find and people that we meet on our journey that makes this trip so special. We just wanted to give a special shout out to the Gold Beach Resort who were so friendly and welcoming on our arrival, and the staff of Spinners Seafood and Steakhouse for the most awesome food and service on the trip so far. The brick seared duck breast was particularly special, coming decorated with blackberries and strawberries. If you visit save room for dessert.